How to Spend $50 on a $2 Pattern
My cousin gave us her two Britax matching car seats for Baby L (one for mommy's car, one for daddy's truck) a few months ago. Since he's three months old and already a whopping 16 pounds, I figured it might be wise to pull them down from the attic and get them cleaned up. Simplicity has a pattern for making a new cover for car seats like these so I thought I'd make him a cute new cover for his seat. I've been eyeing this pattern for months now. For some reason, it's always sold out when patterns are on sale, and since I refuse to pay full price for a pattern I continue to wait.
This morning I got an email from Joann's about their new sale starting today. Awesome. Simplicity patterns were $1.99 this week only. My plan was to be there when they opened, run in and grab the pattern (and possibly some fabric for the actual cover), and run back home...because, you know, I feel like a train has run over my head and inserted a bunch of snot in doing so.
I finish feeding the baby, make sure the diaper is clean, put him in his carrier (that's WAY too heavy for my wussy back muscles) and jump in the car. I get to Joann's, put him in the stroller and run to the back of the store where the patterns are. I go straight to the drawer containing the glorious pattern (Number 4636...why yes, I do have it memorized), pull it out (last one...heck YES!), and decide to go ahead and look at the quilted fabrics. I turn around and spot the craft books. I'm a sucker for a craft book. I admit that I seldom make the projects in them, but for some reason I can't resist. Especially when I have a coupon. I spot a particular book of nothing but iron on transfers for baby clothes. Cute! Thumb through it and remember my last iron on fiasco for the GCCC ESOL shirts and sadly put it back. I turn the stroller around and spot another book containing sewing projects for babies. SO STINKIN' CUTE! I flip through it, check the price (definitely doable with my coupon) and place it on the stroller with the pattern. Head to the fabric and find an adorable bolt of quilted fabric with squares containing different dogs and babies. Can't resist. I see the muslin pile and remember that a lot of the projects in the book called for muslin..."I'll just get one yard. Don't want to start a project and realize I don't have what I need..." Make my way to the cutting table and my friend that works in there informs me that the huge cart containing "red tag" fabrics is marked down an additional 50% off. Crap. I get her started cutting on my muslin and quilted, doggy fabric and do a quick glance through the cart. Green toile, cotton...I'll take two yards. Brown and ivory, cotton, one and a half. Black and white swirly design...give me two. Ooooooh! Now that fabric is just too cute! Just one yard will do me for that one.
I get to the check out counter and my total comes up to $50.32. What?!?!?!?! Oh well.
I get home and am so excited about my finds so I start pulling them out for show-and-tell with Ryan. I go through everything and he gives me the obligatory raised eyebrows and nods with approval. I reach the bottom of the bag and can't find the pattern. Hmmm...must have fallen out in the car. Ryan tells me to check the receipt.
"I know I bought it. I remember putting it on the counter."
"Well, just check it to be sure."
I check the receipt.
It's not there.
"Oh no! Maybe I stole it by accident! Maybe it got stashed in the stroller by mistake!"
I go out to the car and look everywhere. I check the stroller. It's not there.
Son. Of. A. Gun.
Ryan tells me to go back up to Joann's and hurry because it'll probably be sold out quickly. I jump in the car and go back up to Joann's, run to the drawer, thumb to the divider card and....it was the last one, idiot. What was I expecting?
I walk around the store about to cry and pass by the quilted fabrics and see the stupid pattern laying face down on the other bolt of fabric I was considering. I snatch it up, run to the counter (where the ladies are laughing at me) and pay my total of $2.13.
Sigh.
Maybe I should change this post's title to "How to Spend $52 on a $2 Pattern".
This morning I got an email from Joann's about their new sale starting today. Awesome. Simplicity patterns were $1.99 this week only. My plan was to be there when they opened, run in and grab the pattern (and possibly some fabric for the actual cover), and run back home...because, you know, I feel like a train has run over my head and inserted a bunch of snot in doing so.
I finish feeding the baby, make sure the diaper is clean, put him in his carrier (that's WAY too heavy for my wussy back muscles) and jump in the car. I get to Joann's, put him in the stroller and run to the back of the store where the patterns are. I go straight to the drawer containing the glorious pattern (Number 4636...why yes, I do have it memorized), pull it out (last one...heck YES!), and decide to go ahead and look at the quilted fabrics. I turn around and spot the craft books. I'm a sucker for a craft book. I admit that I seldom make the projects in them, but for some reason I can't resist. Especially when I have a coupon. I spot a particular book of nothing but iron on transfers for baby clothes. Cute! Thumb through it and remember my last iron on fiasco for the GCCC ESOL shirts and sadly put it back. I turn the stroller around and spot another book containing sewing projects for babies. SO STINKIN' CUTE! I flip through it, check the price (definitely doable with my coupon) and place it on the stroller with the pattern. Head to the fabric and find an adorable bolt of quilted fabric with squares containing different dogs and babies. Can't resist. I see the muslin pile and remember that a lot of the projects in the book called for muslin..."I'll just get one yard. Don't want to start a project and realize I don't have what I need..." Make my way to the cutting table and my friend that works in there informs me that the huge cart containing "red tag" fabrics is marked down an additional 50% off. Crap. I get her started cutting on my muslin and quilted, doggy fabric and do a quick glance through the cart. Green toile, cotton...I'll take two yards. Brown and ivory, cotton, one and a half. Black and white swirly design...give me two. Ooooooh! Now that fabric is just too cute! Just one yard will do me for that one.
I get to the check out counter and my total comes up to $50.32. What?!?!?!?! Oh well.
I get home and am so excited about my finds so I start pulling them out for show-and-tell with Ryan. I go through everything and he gives me the obligatory raised eyebrows and nods with approval. I reach the bottom of the bag and can't find the pattern. Hmmm...must have fallen out in the car. Ryan tells me to check the receipt.
"I know I bought it. I remember putting it on the counter."
"Well, just check it to be sure."
I check the receipt.
It's not there.
"Oh no! Maybe I stole it by accident! Maybe it got stashed in the stroller by mistake!"
I go out to the car and look everywhere. I check the stroller. It's not there.
Son. Of. A. Gun.
Ryan tells me to go back up to Joann's and hurry because it'll probably be sold out quickly. I jump in the car and go back up to Joann's, run to the drawer, thumb to the divider card and....it was the last one, idiot. What was I expecting?
I walk around the store about to cry and pass by the quilted fabrics and see the stupid pattern laying face down on the other bolt of fabric I was considering. I snatch it up, run to the counter (where the ladies are laughing at me) and pay my total of $2.13.
Sigh.
Maybe I should change this post's title to "How to Spend $52 on a $2 Pattern".
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